The Ferret

I adore Amy Lee's voice...

Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording two private EPs and a demo CD named Origin, with the help of Bigwig Enterprises in 2000, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and helped the band win two Grammy Awards. A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, Anywhere but Home, which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second studio album, The Open Door, which sold more than five million copies. The band has suffered several line-up changes, including co-founder Moody leaving mid-tour in 2003, bassist Will Boyd in mid-2006, followed by guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray in 2007. The latter two of the changes ultimately led the band to be on hiatus with only temporary replacements sought in order for the band to finish touring. In June 2009, Amy Lee posted on the official Evanescence website that the band had been working on new material for a proposed 2010 album.

History Formation and early years: 1995-2001

Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano. Their first songs together were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me", both written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", both written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit. Two of Lee and Moody's songs found playtime on local radio stations, raising local awareness of the group and demand for a concert. The band eventually appeared live, and became one of the most popular acts in the area. After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, which means "to disappear"). Lee loved the name because "it is mysterious and dark, and places a picture in the listeners' mind."

Their first full-length demo CD, Origin (released in 2000), is relatively unknown. The band also released two EPs. The first is the self-titled Evanescence EP (1998), of which about 100 copies were made and distributed at the band's early live performances. The second is the Sound Asleep EP, also known as the Whisper EP (1999), which was limited to 50 copies. Origin and the EPs contain demo versions of some of the songs on their debut album, Fallen. For example, the recording of "My Immortal", found on Fallen, can also be found on Origin, minus a handful of additional string accompaniments. Only 2,500 copies of this record were produced; in response, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet.

Fallen and Anywhere but Home: 2002-2005

The band's signature font was created when Fallen was in development. The label designers used slightly modified versions of each character to make the track titles look unique.

In early 2003, the lineup was completed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody's friends, John LeCompt, Rocky Gray and Will Boyd, all of whom worked on Evanescence's earlier songs. Meanwhile, Evanescence signed on with their first major label, Wind-up Records, and began work on their first album, Fallen. While they were looking to promote Fallen, Evanescence accepted an offer from the video game company Nintendo to perform on the "Nintendo Fusion Tour" which they headlined in 2003.

Fallen spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10; was certified 7x Platinum in the United States; and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, including 7 million in the U.S. The album was listed for 104 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, and it was one of eight albums in the history of the chart to spend at least a year on the Billboard Top 50. On October 22, 2003, Moody left the band during the European tour for Fallen, reportedly because of creative differences. In an interview several months later, Amy Lee said: "...we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record." This became a point of confusion for some people, as Moody and Lee stated on the Fallen album liner notes that they were best friends. Later, Lee said it was almost a relief that he left because of tensions created within the band. Moody was replaced by Terry Balsamo from Cold.

Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life", which features guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, was a global hit for the band and reached #5 on the American Billboard Hot 100. It provided Evanescence with their first UK #1 listing, where it stayed for four weeks from June-July 2003. The song also became the official theme for WWE No Way Out 2003. The equally popular "My Immortal" peaked at #7 in the U.S. and UK charts, and both songs were featured in the soundtrack for the action movie Daredevil. "Bring Me to Life" garnered recognition for the band at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, where they won the Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist awards and were nominated for two others. The two other singles off Fallen are "Going Under" (#5 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #8 UK Charts) and "Everybody's Fool" (#36 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #23 UK Charts); all were promoted by a music video.

Evanescence performing at the concert in Le Zénith, Paris, featured on Anywhere but Home

In 2004, Evanescence's new lineup released a DVD/CD compilation entitled Anywhere but Home. The DVD includes a concert in Paris, as well as behind-the-scenes features, including shots of the band backstage signing autographs and warming up. The CD contains a previously unreleased song entitled "Missing", which was internationally released as a single and reached #1 in Spain. Also on the CD are the live songs "Breathe No More" (from the Elektra movie soundtrack), "Farther Away", and the band's cover of Korn's "Thoughtless".

The Open Door: 2006-2008

A spokesperson for the band's label confirmed on July 14, 2006 that bassist Will Boyd had left the band for "not wanting to do another big tour" and wanting "to be close to his family." Amy Lee originally broke the news to the fans in a post on an unofficial Evanescence site, EvBoard.com. In an interview with MTV, posted on their website on August 10, 2006, Lee announced that Tim McCord, former Revolution Smile guitarist, would switch instruments and play bass for the band.

Evanescence performing at a concert in Brazil in 2007

The album progressed slowly for several reasons, including Amy Lee's desire to maximize the creative process and not rush production, other band members' side projects, guitarist Terry Balsamo's stroke, and the loss of their former manager. Although Lee stated on the fan forum Evboard that Evanescence's new album would be completed in March 2006, the release was pushed back allegedly because "Wind-up Records...wanted to make a few changes to the upcoming single "Call Me When You're Sober", which hit modern rock and alternative rock radio on August 7, 2006.

The 13-track album The Open Door was released in Canada and the United States on October 3, 2006; the United Kingdom on October 2, 2006; and Australia on September 30, 2006. The album sold 447,000 copies in the United States in its first week of sales and earned their first #1 ranking on the Billboard 200 album chart, becoming the 700th #1 album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956. The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was shot in Los Angeles and is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

The Open Door became available for pre-order on the iTunes Store on August 15, 2006; the music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was also made available. The tour for The Open Door began on October 5, 2006 in Toronto and included locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe during that year. This first tour continued on January 5, 2007 and included stops in Canada (alongside band Stone Sour), Japan and Australia (alongside band Shihad) and then returned to the U.S. for a second tour in the spring (alongside bands Chevelle and Finger Eleven). As part of their tour, Evanescence performed on April 15, 2007 on the Argentinan festival Quilmes Rock 07 along with Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and other local bands. They also co-headlined on the Family Values Tour 2007 along with Korn and other bands. The group closed their European tour with a sell-out concert at the Amphi in Ra'anana, Israel, on June 26, 2007, and finished the album tour on December 9, 2007.

John LeCompt, former Evanescence guitarist

On May 4, 2007, John LeCompt announced that he had been fired from Evanescence, and also stated that drummer Rocky Gray had decided to quit. Wind-up issued a press release on May 17, 2007, stating that two Dark New Day members, drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn, would be joining the band to replace LeCompt and Gray. It was initially stated that Hunt and McLawhorn would tour with Evanescence until the end of the Family Values Tour in September 2007, but both continued to play with the band through The Open Door tour.

Third studio album: 2009-present

In a news posting to the Evanescence website during June 2009, Amy Lee wrote that the band was in the process of writing new material for a new album proposed for release in 2010. She stated that the music would be an evolution of previous works and be "better, stronger, and more interesting". The band also announced that they will be performing at the Maquinaria Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, on November 8, 2009. Prior to their festival performance, the band will be playing a "secret show" at the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom in New York City on November 4, 2009 with label mates, Civil Twilight. Ticket sales for this "Secret Show" sold out in under an hour and a half, when released to the public.

In other media

Lee claimed that she wrote a song for the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but that it was rejected because of its dark sound. Lee went on to state that it was just "more great stuff [for The Open Door]". Another song supposedly written for Narnia was the Mozart-inspired "Lacrymosa". The producers of Narnia, however, refuted her claim, stating this information was "news to them" and that no Evanescence music had been planned for inclusion in the soundtrack.

Musical style and influences

Critics vary in terming Evanescence a rock or metal band, but most identify them as some form of gothic band: Publications such as the New York Times, Rough Guides, Rolling Stone and Blender have identified Evanescence as a gothic metal act, while other sources such as NME, MusicMight, IGN and Popmatters have termed them gothic rock. They have been compared to a variety of bands from differing genres, such as nu metal ensembles like P.O.D. and Linkin Park, gothic metal groups like Lacuna Coil, and symphonic metal acts like Nightwish and Within Temptation. David Browne of Blender offers an elaborate description of the band's music as "goth Christian nü-metal with a twist of melancholic Enya." Adrien Begrand of Popmatters describes Evanescence as utilising "nu-metal riffage".

Adrian Jackson of My Dying Bride stated that he feels Evanescence is doing something similar to his own gothic metal group, only in a more commercial direction. Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost suggests that Paradise Lost has probably influenced Evanescence only indirectly through other similar acts. Other genres and influences used to describe the band’s sound include alternative metal, alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge and electronica.

Evanescence was originally promoted in Christian stores. Later, the band made it clear they did not want to be considered part of the Christian rock genre. Terry Hemmings, CEO of Christian music distributor Provident, expressed puzzlement at the band's about-face, saying "They clearly understood the album would be sold in these [Christian music] channels." After many Christian stores began to remove the band's music from their shelves, Wind-up Records chairman Alan Meltzer then issued a press release in April 2003 requesting formally that they do this. In 2006, Amy Lee told Billboard that she had opposed being identified as a "Christian band" from the beginning.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

There's definitely not enough Queen on this site. Let's take a step towards rectifying that sorry state of affairs...

Now this is going back a few years. Back to 1957, to be precise, and one of the founding fathers of rhythm and blues, which later spawned Rock&Roll and further developed into my beloved Rock (now known as Classic Rock.)

Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and many, many others were my introduction to good music despite me being born a couple of decades too late to appreciate them at the height of their success...

I really, really love this kind of stuff.

Fats Domino in concert, 1992

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928) is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.

Biography

Antoine was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Imperial Records era (1949–1962)

Domino first attracted national attention with "The Fat Man" in 1949 on Imperial Records. This song is an early rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing "wah-wah" vocalizing over a fat back beat. It sold over a million copies and is widely regarded as the first rock and roll record to do so.

Fats Domino then released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer Dave Bartholomew, saxophonists Herbert Hardesty and Alvin "Red" Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp, who was also Domino's trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955), which hit the Top Ten, though Pat Boone characteristically hit #1 with a milder cover of the song that received wider radio airplay in a racially-segregated era. Domino would eventually release 37 Top 40 singles, "Whole Lotta Loving" and "Blue Monday" among them.

Domino's first album, Carry on Rockin', was released under the Imperial imprint, #9009, in November 1955 and subsequently reissued as Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino in 1956. Combining a number of his hits along with some tracks which had not yet been released as singles, the album went on under its alternate title to reach #17 on the "Pop Albums" chart.

His 1956 up tempo version of the 1940 Bobby Cerdeira, Al Lewis & Larry Stock song, "Blueberry Hill" reached #2 in the Top 40, was #1 on the R&B charts for 11 weeks, and was his biggest hit. "Blueberry Hill" sold more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956-57. The song had earlier been recorded by Gene Autry, and Louis Armstrong among many others. He also hit singles between 1956-1959, including "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Pop #14), "I'm Walkin'" (Pop #4), "Valley of Tears" (Pop #8), "It's You I Love" (Pop #6), "Whole Lotta Loving" (Pop #6), "I Want to Walk You Home" (Pop #8), and "Be My Guest" (Pop #8).

Fats appeared in two films released in 1956: Shake, Rattle & Rock! and The Girl Can't Help It. On December 18, 1957, Domino's hit "The Big Beat" was featured on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

Domino continued to have a steady series of hits for Imperial through early 1962, including "Walkin' to New Orleans" (1960) (Pop #6) co-written by Bobby Charles and "My Girl Josephine" (Pop #14) from the same year. After Imperial Records was sold to outside interests in early 1963, Domino left the label: "I stuck with them until they sold out", he claimed in 1979. In all, Domino recorded over 60 singles for the label, placing 40 songs in the top 10 on the R&B charts, and scoring 11 top 10 singles on the pop charts. Twenty-two of Domino's Imperial singles were double-sided hits.

Post-Imperial recording career (1963–1970s)

Domino moved to ABC-Paramount Records in 1963. The label dictated that he would record in Nashville rather than New Orleans. He was assigned a new producer (Felton Jarvis) and a new arranger (Bill Justis); Domino's long-term collaboration with producer/arranger/frequent co-writer Dave Bartholomew, who oversaw virtually all of his Imperial hits, was seemingly at an end.

Jarvis and Justis changed the Domino sound somewhat, notably by adding the backing of a countrypolitan-style vocal chorus to most of his new recordings. Perhaps as a result of this tinkering with an established formula, Domino's chart career was drastically curtailed. He released 11 singles for ABC-Paramount, but only had one top 40 entry with "Red Sails In The Sunset" (1963). By the end of 1964 the British Invasion had changed the tastes of the record-buying public, and Domino's chart run was over.

Despite the lack of chart success, Domino continued to record steadily until about 1970, leaving ABC-Paramount in mid-1965 and recording for a variety of other labels (Mercury, Bartholomew's small Broadmoor label reuniting with Dave Bartholomew along the way, and Reprise). He also continued as a popular live act for several decades.

Later career (1980s–2005)

In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked any place else. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an invitation to perform at the White House failed to persuade Domino to make an exception to this policy.

Fats Domino was persuaded to perform out of town periodically for Dianna Chenevert, agent, founder and president of New Orleans based Omni Attractions, during the 1980s and early 1990s. Most of these engagements were in and around New Orleans, but also included a concert in Texas at West End Market Place in downtown Dallas on October 24, 1986.

On October 12, 1983 USA Today reported that Domino was included in Chenevert's "Southern Stars" promotional poster for the agency (along with historically preserving childhood photographs of other famous living musicians from New Orleans and Louisiana on it). Fats provided a photograph of his first recording session, which was the only one he had left from his childhood. Domino autographed these posters, whose recipients included USA Today's Gannett president Al Newharth, and Peter Morton founder of the Hard Rock Cafe. Times-Picayune columnist Betty Guillaud noted on September 30, 1987 that Domino also provided Chenevert with an autographed pair of his shoes (and signed a black grand piano lid) for the Hard Rock location in New Orleans.

Domino lived in a mansion in a predominantly working-class Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, where he was a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac automobile. He makes yearly appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and other local events. Domino was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #25 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."

Graffiti on Domino's home from the time he was rumored dead

Fats Domino's office, June 2007

Domino and Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina was approaching New Orleans in August 2005, Dianna Chenevert encouraged Fats to evacuate, but he chose to stay at home with his family, partly because of his wife's poor health. Unfortunately his house was in an area that was heavily flooded. Chenevert e-mailed writers at the Times Picayune newspaper and the Coast Guard with the Dominos' location.

Someone thought Fats was dead, and spray-painted a message on his home, "RIP Fats. You will be missed", which was shown in news photos. On September 1, Domino's agent, Al Embry, announced that he had not heard from the musician since before the hurricane had struck.

Later that day, CNN reported that Domino was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Embry confirmed that Domino and his family had been rescued. The Domino family was then taken to a Baton Rouge shelter, after which they were picked up by JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team, and Fats' granddaughter's boyfriend. He let the Dominos stay in his apartment. The Washington Post reported that on September 2, they had left Russell's apartment after sleeping three nights on the couch. "We've lost everything", Domino said, according to the Post.

By January 2006, work to gut and repair Domino's home and office had begun. For the meantime, the Domino family is residing in Harvey, Louisiana.

Chenevert replaced the Southern Stars poster Fats Domino lost in Katrina and President George W. Bush also made a personal visit and replaced the medal that President Bill Clinton had previously awarded Fats.

President George W. Bush shakes the hand of Fats Domino, wearing a National Medal of Arts, after the President presented it on August 29, 2006, at the musician's home in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The medal was a replacement medal for the one—originally awarded by President Bill Clinton—that was lost in the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina.

Post-Katrina activity

Domino was the first artist to be announced as scheduled to perform at the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival. However, he was too ill to perform when scheduled and was only able to offer the audience an on-stage greeting. Domino also released an album Alive and Kickin' in early 2006 to benefit the Tipitina's Foundation, which supports indigent local musicians. The title song was recorded after Katrina, but most of the cuts were from unreleased sessions in the 1990s.

On January 12, 2007, Domino was honored with OffBeat magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Best of the Beat Awards held at House of Blues in New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared the day "Fats Domino Day in New Orleans" and presented Fats Domino with a signed declaration. OffBeat publisher Jan Ramsey and WWL-TV's Eric Paulsen presented Fats Domino with the Lifetime Achievement Award. An all-star musical tribute followed with an introduction by the legendary producer Cosimo Matassa. The Lil' Band O' Gold rhythm section, Warren Storm, Kenny Bill Stinson, David Egan and C.C. Adcock, not only anchored the band, but each contributed lead vocals, swamp pop legend Warren Storm leading off with "Let the Four Winds Blow" and "The Prisoner Song", which he proudly introduced by saying, "Fats Domino recorded this in 1958.. and so did I." The horn section included Lil' Band O' Gold's Dickie Landry, the Iguanas' Derek Huston, and long-time Domino horn men Roger Lewis, Elliot "Stackman" Callier and Herb Hardesty. They were joined by Jon Cleary (who also played guitar in the rhythm section), Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, Irma Thomas, George Porter, Jr. (who, naturally, came up with a funky arrangement for "You Keep On Knocking"), Art Neville, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint, who wrote and debuted a song in tribute of Domino for the occasion. Though Domino didn't perform, those near him recall him playing air piano and singing along to his own songs.

Fats Domino returned to stage on May 19, 2007, at Tipitina's at New Orleans, performing to a full house. A foundation has been formed and a show is being planned for Domino and the restoration of his home, where he intends to return someday. "I like it down there" he said in a February, 2006 CBS News interview.

In September 2007, Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday. In December 2007, Fats Domino was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In May 2009, Domino made an unexpected appearance for The Domino Effect, a namesake concert aimed at raising funds to help rebuild schools and playgrounds damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Influence

He was acknowledged as an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s by some of the top artists of that era. Paul McCartney reportedly wrote the Beatles song "Lady Madonna" in an emulation of Domino's style, combining it with a nod to Humphrey Lyttelton's 1956 hit "Bad Penny Blues", a record which Joe Meek had engineered.[citation needed] Domino did manage to return to the "Hot 100" charts one final time in 1968—with his own recording of "Lady Madonna". That recording, as well as covers of two other Beatles songs, appeared on his Reprise LP Fats Is Back, produced by Richard Perry and recorded by a band which included New Orleans piano player James Booker; Domino played piano only on one track, "I'm Ready". Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney later recorded Fats Domino songs. Domino's music such as the song "Be My Guest" was an influence on ska music.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

Louis XIV was an American rock band from San Diego, California.

History

Beginnings: 2003-2004

Lead singer/guitarist Jason Hill, guitarist Brian Karscig, and drummer Mark Maigaard formed the group in April 2003 while living in Paris, France. Bassist James Armbrust soon joined after.

Louis XIV, the band's first album, was released in November 2003. It was recorded in a basement in the Spanish district in Paris, France in the spring of 2003. Recorded on a 16-track tape machine, it was released independently through Pineapple Recording Group, a label started by Hill and Karscig. Although the record was only sold at shows, on the band's website, and in some independent record stores, it sold over 22,000 copies in the first six months. First embraced in the UK in 2004, doing the famous Jonathon Ross show television show one week after Oasis and the Mary Hobbs show on BBC Radio 1. They were embraced by Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme at the 2004 NME Awards.

Illegal Tender EP and The Best Little Secrets Are Kept: 2005

The 'Scotland News of the World billed Louis XIV as the best band of the T in the Park festival. The music video for the instrumental song "The Hunt" was filmed by Hill. The New York-based group Stolen Transmission, run by former Spin magazine writer Sarah Lewitinn, released a three-song handmade CD featuring the songs "Hey Teacher" and "God Killed the Queen". After the band returned to California, local deejays, including 91x in San Diego, began playing an unreleased song from the bands website, "Finding out True love is Blind", leading to the release of two simultaneous limited EPs, Pink and Blue. Eight major radio stations on the West Coast then named the single a top five song, leading to the band signing to Atlantic Records in late 2004.

The band released an EP entitled Illegal Tender in January 2005, (self produced) followed in March by their second full-length album, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (produced by Jason Hill). The album depicts a half-naked girl with the song titles written on her back. A tamed-down version of the cover was released in Wal-Mart, with a portion of the girl's body cropped off. Their first single was titled "Finding Out True Love Is Blind". The band released their second single off their debut album, "God Killed the Queen", in September 2005.

In 2005 NME called the band "music to flunk rehab to", while Rolling Stone and MTV named them as one of its top 10 bands to watch. The music video for "Pledge of Allegiance", filmed again by Hill, was filmed containing the album cover girl undressing in front of a camera. The music video for "Paper Doll" was released exclusively on the alt porn website Suicide Girls. The video, featuring various models in different stages of undress, was directed by alt-porn pioneer Eon McKai, director of "Art School Sluts", the "Kill Girl Kill" series, and "Neu Wave Hookers". In 2007, David Bowie and Alicia Keys asked the band to play their BlackBall charity event for Aids in Africa. Bowie cites Louis XIV as one his favorite new bands in numerous Conde Naste publications.

Band members Jason Hill and Brian Karscig sang on three songs on The Killers 2007 album Sam's Town, which has gone on to sell almost 5 million records.

In 2007 Hill is credited as sometime touring guitarist for country musicians and drum engineer for Dixie Chicks. He also remixed a song by the Los Angeles-based punk band The Bronx(Island/Def Jam) and produced an EP by the New York-based The Virgins (Atlantic) featured on HBO's Entourage.

In September 2007, Louis XIV was joined by violinist Ray Suen as a touring member.

Also in 2007, Louis XIV toured Australia, Mexico and the USA with The Killers and played several AIDS IN AFRICA charity events with David Bowie and Alicia Keyes

In February-April 2009, Louis XIV went on a world tour with the Killers playing upwards of 15,000-25,000 people a night. After a show in Manchester at the o2 arena, the manchester tribune called the band, "Criminally overlooked".

The Distances from Everyone to You, another EP, was released through the iTunes Store on September 11, 2007. The EP contains the band's cover version Queen's Flash Gordon theme and later used for the Sci Fi Channel's new Flash Gordon television series.

Slick Dogs and Ponies and breakup: 2008-2009

Their 2008 album, Slick Dogs and Ponies, produced by Hill, was released on January 28, 2008. The album contained the release of "Guilt by Association", complete with an eight piece cello and eight guitar solo and ending with a flute. The first single, "Air Traffic Control", featuring a 24-piece string section, was in the Top 40 Alternative radio charts.

The band toured North America between January and March, supporting Editors. On June 7, 2008 the band opened for The Sex Pistols in Las Vegas, the only U.S. performance of the Pistols' "Combine Harvester" tour.

Louis XIV announced a European tour for August 2008, including the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals.

In February-May 2009 Louis XIV joined The Killers for a European tour, followed by a main stage spot on V Festival tour around Australia Vfestivals and a string of club dates in the region with The Kills.

Louis XIV recently announced the breakup of the band. Band member Brian Karscig says this: "Never say never to another LXIV record...just not anytime soon." All the members are pursuing their own musical interests at this time.

Controversy

Louis XIV were known for their sexually provocative lyrics. In 2005 the Hoover, Alabama board of education withdrew an invitation for the band to perform a free concert at Hoover High School after hearing complaints about the band's lyrics. The board, citing a recent arrest in California for drug possession, song contents and "the likely possibility of irresponsible acts," determined that it was "not appropriate to have a band of this kind of nature."

The incident has given rise to the group being "banned from Alabama". As Hill explained to Reverb Magazine (Newcastle, Australia) on November 17, 2007, while on tour in Melbourne, Victoria:

When you hang out with us, you realize that we like having a laugh. But Hoover, Alabama banned us — we weren't allowed to perform in the city at the time. I have no idea why. I've been called a sexist and a male chauvinist. There was a really great article in San Francisco's paper, ', which was about "10 Reasons Why You Should Not Like Louis XIV"; it was the greatest article I’ve ever read. I've even been called a racist when I used the terms "Chocolate Girl" and "Vanilla Girl". I was trying to be playful and flirtatious. People don't realize when we're being tongue-in-cheek. But in some ways, the most negative press can also be the biggest compliment.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

Well, it's kinda fitting for me...

Just another example of how varied my tastes in music can be. I absolutely adore the sounds of Africa, and this guy is just amazing!

Salif Keita (born August 25, 1949) is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role.

Keita was born in the city of Djoliba. He was cast out by his family and ostracized by the community because of his albinism, a sign of bad luck in Mandinka culture. He left Djoliba for Bamako in 1967, where he joined the government sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako. In 1973 Keita joined the group, Les Ambassadeurs. Keita and Les Ambassadeurs fled political unrest in Mali during the mid-1970s for Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and subsequently changed the group's name to Les Ambassadeurs Internationales. The reputation of Les Ambassadeurs Internationales rose to the international level in the 1970s and in 1977 Keita received a National Order award from the president of Guinea, Sékou Touré.

Keita moved to Paris in 1984 to reach a larger audience. His music combines traditional West African music styles with influences from both Europe and the Americas, while maintaining an overall Islamic style. Musical instruments that are commonly featured in Keita's work include balafons, djembes, guitars, koras, organs, saxophones, and synthesizers.

Keita found success in Europe as one of the African stars of world music, but his work was sometimes criticised for the gloss of its production and for the occasional haphazard quality. However, shortly after the turn of the Millennium he returned to Bamako in Mali to live and record. His first work after going home, 2002’s Moffou, was hailed as his best album in many years, and Keita was inspired to build a recording studio in Bamako, which he used for his latest album, M'Bemba, released in October 2005.

A little ditty about Toledo, Ohio

A slightly watered-down for TV live performance from the boys here, but still good stuff...

Hey, it's got to be good, that's Bon Scott there!

Propellerheads are a British big beat music band made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term "Propellerhead" is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name for their band.

History

Their first release was an EP named Dive!, published in 1996 through independent label Wall of Sound. They gained fame the next year by providing a remix for Bond composer David Arnold's Bond tribute album Shaken & Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project covering John Barry's On Her Majesty's Secret Service the theme song to the sixth James Bond film, re-orchestrated by Arnold. They also collaborated with Arnold on the track Backseat Driver, for the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack. The single "History Repeating" followed, a collaboration with diva Shirley Bassey, fusing big beat with jazz.

The only Propellerheads album to date is Decksandrumsandrockandroll, released in 1998 by Wall of Sound in Europe and DreamWorks in the US and Japan. The Dreamworks versions include collaborations with hip hop veterans De La Soul and Jungle Brothers, and the Japanese version is a 2 disc special edition including some of their earlier singles. A track from the album, "Spybreak!", became widely known after its use in the lobby scene in The Matrix. They are also noted for providing "Crash" as the theme tune to BBC Radio 1's Official Chart Show between 1998 and 2002, when Mark Goodier was the host. This song was also used in the 1999 hit comedy film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

After touring for their hit album, Will White fell ill. They released Extended Play EP in 1998, and in the song "Props' Vote Of Gratitude", Alex Gifford raps for the first time, explaining to the attentive listener that the band would "be back after this short break". Gifford moved to New York and produced the Jungle Brothers' 1999 album V.I.P. in which he raps with The Black Eyed Peas among others. Will White provided the drums for the eponymous track. He has also produced a track for Rufus Wainwright ("Shadows") on his 2001 album Poses. White has since released a mix compilation for the Beatz and Bobz series, and he has also appeared as a member of the De-Fex music project.

The Propellerheads also appear on the Red Hot and Indigo album on the track "Star Crossed Lovers", with vocals by Martha Wainwright.

In November 1998 the song "Bang On!" was included in the Nintendo 64 computer game Wipeout 64.

In October 2003 Wall of Sound commemorated its 10th birthday, and to celebrate, released a two disc album charting 10 years of its pioneering British music. The first CD featured alumni such as Röyksopp, The Wiseguys and Mekon, while Gifford provided a mix CD for the second disc. The first track on that disc was a new song by Propellerheads featuring Brooklyn based writer Livingroom Johnston, entitled "10 Years".

Their song "Take California" was the first song ever used in an Apple iPod television ad.

Will White is now part of the live incarnation of Long Range, the latest project of Phil Hartnoll of Orbital fame.

~o0o~

Shirley Bassey at the Glastonbury Festival, 2007

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey DBE (born Cardiff, Wales, 8 January 1937) is a singer who found fame in the late 1950s and has continued a successful career since then worldwide. She is also well-known for recording the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). She has sold 135 million records to date. With 35 hits in the UK Singles Chart plus 37 hit LPs in the UK Albums Chart, she maintains her position as Britain's most successful female artist of all time, and the artist with the longest span (50 years) of Top 40 hits.

Birth to 1960

Shirley Bassey was born to Henry Bassey and his wife Eliza Jane (née Metcalfe), their seventh and last child, in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales. Of Nigerian (via her father) and English (via her mother who was from Yorkshire) heritage, Bassey has always refered to her nationality as being Welsh. She grew up in the working-class dockside district of Tiger Bay. After leaving Moorland School at the age of fifteen, Bassey first found employment packing at a local factory while singing in local public houses and clubs in the evenings and weekends. In 1953, she signed up for the revue Memories of Jolson, a musical based on the life of Al Jolson. She next took up a professional engagement in Hot from Harlem, which ran until 1954. By this time Bassey had become disenchanted with show business, and had become pregnant at 16 with her daughter Sharon, so she went back to waitressing in Cardiff. However, in 1955, a chance recommendation of her to Michael Sullivan, a Streatham-born booking agent, put her firmly on course for her destined career. He saw talent in Bassey, and decided he would make her a star. She toured various theatres until she got an offer of the show that put her firmly on the road to stardom, Al Read's Such Is Life at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End. While she starred in this show, Philips A&R and record producer Johnny Franz spotted her on television, was impressed, and offered her a recording deal. Bassey recorded her first single, entitled "Burn My Candle (at Both Ends)", and Philips released it in February 1956, when Bassey was just nineteen. Owing to the suggestive lyrics, the BBC banned it, but it sold well nonetheless, backed with her powerful rendition of "Stormy Weather". Further singles followed, and in February 1957, Bassey had her first hit with "Banana Boat Song", which reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart. During that year, she also recorded under the direction of American producer Mitch Miller in the US for the Columbia label, producing the single "If I Had a Needle and Thread" b/w "Tonight My Heart She Is Crying". In mid-1958, she recorded two singles that would become classics in the Bassey catalogue: "As I Love You" appeared as a B-side to another ballad, "Hands Across the Sea". It did not sell well at first, but after a chance appearance at the London Palladium things began to pick up. In February 1959, it reached number one and stayed there for four weeks. Bassey also recorded "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me" at this point, and while "As I Love You" raced up the charts, so too did this record, with both songs being in the top three at the same time. A few months later, Bassey signed to EMI's Columbia label, and the second phase in her recording career had begun.

1960–1980

In the early and mid 1960s, Bassey had numerous hits on the UK charts, and five albums in the top 15. Her 1960 recording of "As Long As He Needs Me" from Lionel Bart's Oliver! reached number two, and had a chart run of 30 weeks. In 1962, Bassey's collaboration with Nelson Riddle and his orchestra produced the album Let's Face the Music (#12) and the single "What Now My Love" (#5). Other top ten hits of the period included her second #1, the double A-side "Reach for the Stars" / Climb Ev'ry Mountain" (1961), "I'll Get By" (also 1961), and a cover vision of Ben E. King hit "I (Who Have Nothing)" in 1963. During this period, John F. Kennedy invited Bassey to sing at his Inauguration Ball. In 1965, Bassey enjoyed her first U.S. Top 10 chart hit with the title song of the James Bond film, Goldfinger – from the number one original soundtrack in the U.S. that same year. Owing to the success of Goldfinger, she appeared frequently on many American television talk shows such as those hosted by Johnny Carson and by Mike Douglas. Also in 1965, she sang the title track for the spoof James Bond film The Liquidator, and had a Top 20 live album recorded during a sell-out run at London's Pigalle.

From 1964 onwards the "Goldfinger" single had a lasting impact on her career; writing for the sleeve notes of Bassey's 25th Anniversary Album, Clayton (1978) notes that: "Acceptance in America was considerably helped by the enormous popularity of (Goldfinger)...But she had actually established herself there as early as 1961, in cabaret in New York. She was also a success in Las Vegas...'I suppose I should feel hurt that I've never been really big in America on record since Goldfinger...But, concertwise, I always sell out.'..." This was reflected in the fact that Bassey had only one solo LP to reach the Top 20 in a US chart (R&B, Live at Carnegie Hall), and she was technically a "one-hit wonder," making only one appearance in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, "Goldfinger". But in the aftermath of "Goldfinger" her UK sales started to falter as well, only two of her singles would enter the top 40 until 1970. She had signed to United Artists, and her first album on that label, 1966's I've Got a Song for You, spent one week on the chart; from there until 1970, only two albums would enter the top 40, one of those a compilation. In 1967 came the release of one of her best-known singles "Big Spender", although it charted just outside the UK Top 20.

Bassey started living as a tax exile in 1968, and was not permitted to work in Britain for almost two years. Also in 1968, at the Sanremo Festival in Italy, she performed the song "La vita", an Italian song by Bruno Canfora and Antonio Amurri, with some lyrics re-written in English by Norman Newell for her performance. Her version of the song with chorus sung in Italian became a Top 40 hit on the Italian chart, and Bassey recorded several songs in Italian, some appearing on a 1968 Italian album titled La vita. (Later, Newell would write English lyrics for the rest of "La vita", and the result was "This Is My Life".) But her UK sales continued to suffer.

Bassey's UK comeback came in 1970, leading to one of the most successful periods of her career. In this year, she returned to the UK with a record breaking run of performances at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Also in that year, she released the album Something, which showcased a new Bassey style, a shift from traditional pop to more contemporary songs and arrangements (the single of the same name was more successful in the UK charts than the original Beatles recording). "Something" was also a Top 10 U.S. hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. Other singles of this period included top ten hits "For All We Know" (1971) and "Never Never Never" (1973) – the latter also reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart. The success of "Something" (single #4, album #5) spawned a series of successful albums on the UA label, including Something Else (1971), And I Love You So (1972), I Capricorn (1972), Never Never Never (1973), Good, Bad but Beautiful (1975), Life, Love and Feelings (1976), You Take My Heart Away (1977) and Yesterdays (1978). Bernard Ighner wrote and duetted with Bassey for the track "Davy" on the Nobody Does It Like Me album (1974). Additionally, two of Bassey's earlier LPs entered the charts, 1967's And We Were Lovers (re-issued as Big Spender), and 1962's Let's Face the Music (re-issued as What Now My Love). Two compilations, The Shirley Bassey Singles Album (1975) and 25th Anniversary Album (1978) both made the UK top three: The Shirley Bassey Singles Album her highest charting album at No. 2 and earning a gold disc, and 25th Anniversary Album going platinum.

Between 1970 and 1979, Bassey had 18 hit albums in the UK Albums Chart. Her 1978 album The Magic Is You featured a portrait by the photographer, Francesco Scavullo. In 1973, her sold out concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall were recorded and released as a two LP set Shirley Bassey: Live at Carnegie Hall. This album and the majority of her recordings from this period have been re-mastered and released on CD by EMI and BGO Records. In 1971, she recorded the theme song for Diamonds Are Forever. The recording featured as part of Sydney, Australia's 2007 New Year's celebration. In 1976 Bassey starred in the first of her television programs for the BBC, followed by a second series in 1979. The final show of the first series was nominated for the Golden Rose of Montreux in 1977. The series featured guests including Neil Diamond, Michel Legrand, and Dusty Springfield; filmed in various locations throughout the world as well as in the studio. Bassey would close out the decade with her third title theme for the Bond films, Moonraker in 1979.

1980-2005

Throughout most of the 1980s, Bassey focused on charitable work and performing occasional concert tours throughout Europe and the United States, having ended her contract with EMI-United Artists and taking what she referred to as 'semi-retirement'. However, her singles sales were such that she remained the UK's biggest-selling artist throughout this period, until finally overtaken by Madonna at the close of the decade. In 1982 Bassey recorded an album entitled All by Myself and made a TV special for Thames Television called A Special Lady with guest Robert Goulet. In 1983 she recorded a duet with Alain Delon, "Thought I'd Ring You", which became a hit single in Europe. Bassey was now recording far less often but released an album in 1984 of her most famous songs, I Am What I Am, performed with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis. In 1986, she released a single and video to support the London Tourist Board There's No Place Like London. In 1987 she recorded an album of James Bond themes The Bond Collection, but was apparently unhappy with the results, as she declined to release it. (Five years later it was released anyway, Bassey sued in court, and all unsold copies were withdrawn.) Also in 1987, Bassey provided vocals for Swiss artists Yello on "The Rhythm Divine", a song co-written by Scottish singer Billy Mackenzie. In 1989 she released an album sung entirely in Spanish, La Mujer. In the latter mid-1980s Bassey had started working with a vocal coach, a former opera singer, and her 1991 album Keep the Music Playing displayed a grand, operatic pop style on several songs (perhaps also influenced by her album with the LSO seven years earlier).

In 1994 EMI released the five-CD box set, Bassey - The EMI/UA Years 1959 - 1979. In 1996, Bassey collaborated with Chris Rea in the film La Passione, appearing in the film as herself and releasing the single "Disco La Passione". The remix of this single proved a major club hit throughout Europe, though charting just outside the UK top 40. Bassey released a new recording the following year, "History Repeating" written for her by the Propellerheads and scoring a number one on the British dance music chart. The single reached the top five in Spain, Italy and Germany. The liner notes of the Propellerheads' album Decksandrumsandrockandroll included the lines 'We would like to extend our maximum respect to Shirley Bassey for honouring us with her performance. We are still in shock ...' Bassey celebrated her 60th birthday the same year with two open air concerts, at Castle Howard and Althorp Park, and another TV special. The resulting live album The Birthday Concert received a Grammy Award nomination for 'Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance'. On 7 October 1998 in Egypt, Bassey performed for a benefit at an open air concert very close to the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. During her UK Tour in 1998, 120,000 people saw Bassey live and she smashed her own record in London for the longest run by a solo artist at the Royal Festival Hall with ten sold-out shows. In 1999, she recorded the official song for the Rugby World Cup, World in Union, with Bryn Terfel and performed at the opening ceremony at The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Bassey contributed three songs to the official album Land of My Fathers. The album reached #1 on the UK compilation chart.

In 2001, Bassey was principal artiste at the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th Birthday celebration. Then, in 2003, Bassey celebrated 50 years in show business releasing the CD Thank You for the Years which was another Top 20 album. A gala charity auction of her stage costumes at Christie's 'Dame Shirley Bassey: 50 Years of Glittering Gowns' raised £250,000 (US$500,000) for the Dame Shirley Bassey Scholarship at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital Appeal.

Bassey topped the bill at the 2005 Royal Variety Performance, introducing her new song "The Living Tree".

Recent developments

Two popular Audiences with Shirley Bassey have aired on British TV, one in 1995 that attracted more than 10 million viewers in the UK, with the most recent in 2006. Bassey returned to perform in five arenas around the UK in June the same year, culminating at Wembley. She also performed a concert in front of 10,000 people at the Bryn Terfel Faenol Festival in North Wales broadcast by BBC Wales.

Marks & Spencer signed her for their Christmas 2006 'James Bond style' TV advertising campaign. Bassey is seen in a glamorous Ice Palace singing a cover version of Pink's song, "Get the Party Started" wearing an M&S gown. It was shown for a couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, and proved so popular it was shown throughout the holiday period, with remixes of the song circulating on the underground music scene.

"The Living Tree", written, produced and originally recorded by the group Never the Bride, was released as a single on 23 April 2007, marking Bassey's 50th anniversary in the UK Singles Chart – and the record for the longest span of Top 40 hits in UK chart history. Bassey made an appearance at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival. Wearing a pink Julien MacDonald dress, she performed a 45 minute set. A new album Get the Party Started was subsequently released on 25 June 2007 and entered the UK Albums Chart at number six. The single reached #3 on the U.S. Dance Chart. The same year, Bassey performed "Big Spender" with Elton John at his annual White Tie and Tiara Ball to raise money for The Elton John AIDS Foundation. In 2007, Bassey performed in Fashion Rocks in aid of The Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall.

She was rushed to hospital in Monaco on 23 May 2008 to have an emergency operation on her stomach after complaining of abdominal pains. She was forced to pull out of Nelson Mandelas 90th Birthday concert due to her illness. A biography, Diamond Diva, was published in 2008.

It was announced in July 2009 that Bassey was recording a new album, with David Arnold as producer. By September 2009 artists who had written songs for the album included Manic Street Preachers, Gary Barlow, KT Tunstall, Pet Shop Boys, Kaiser Chiefs, John Barry and Don Black. The 11 track album, to be entitled The Performance, will be released on 9 November 2009.

Also in September 2009, it was announced that Bassey will headline at the BBC Electric Proms on 23 October 2009. This is to be her only full live set of this year.

Personal life

Bassey's first marriage was to Kenneth Hume (1961–65) and ended in divorce. Her second husband was Sergio Novak. Bassey and Novak were married from 1968 until they divorced in 1977; Novak served as Bassey's manager for this period of time. Bassey has two daughters and, with Novak, adopted her grandnephew. Bassey has never revealed the identity of the father of her daughters. Bassey's second daughter, Samantha, was found dead in 1985 after apparently having fallen from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England. Bassey has always insisted that there is no evidence that the death of her daughter was suicide.

She currently resides in Monte Carlo.

Awards and achievements

In recognition of her career longevity, and admiration from the British Royal Family, Bassey was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 31 December 1999 by HM Queen Elizabeth II. She was invited to perform in 2002 at the Party at the Palace, a public celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. She was awarded France's top honour, the Legion d'Honneur, to signify her popularity and importance in the culture of France.

* 1972 – Best Female Singer – TV Times, UK
* 1973 – Best Female Singer – TV Times, UK
* 1974 – Best Female Entertainer – American Guild of Variety Artists
* 1976 – Best Female Singer – Music Week, UK
* 1976 – 22-day British tour to mark twenty years as a recording artist
* 1976 – EMI Award for twenty years as a recording artist – UK
* 1977 – Best British Female Singer in the Last 50 years of Recorded Sound – (BRIT Awards winner)
* 1977 – BBC TV show nomination for the Golden Rose of Montreux
* 1985 – Star of Sopot Festival (International Song Festival), Poland
* 1991 – Walk of Fame, Star Boulevard – plaque unveiled in Rotterdam
* 1993 – CBE – Commander of the British Empire
* 1995 – Showbusiness Personality of the Year – Variety Club of Great Britain
* 1996 – Europe's Lifetime Achievement Award – Ceremony held in Germany
* 1997 – Grammy nomination – The Birthday Concert (recorded live at Althorp Park)
* 1998 – Longest run by a solo artist (ten shows) – Royal Festival Hall, London
* 1999 – Légion d'Honneur – France
* 1999 – DBE – Dame of the British Empire
* 1999 – Madam Tussaud's waxwork unveiled in London (second model in Las Vegas)
* 1999 – 100 most famous people of the 20th century – Hello magazine
* 2000 – Most Successful British Female Singer – Guinness Book of Records
* 2003 – Outstanding Contribution to Music – National Music Awards, UK
* 2003 – Woman of the Year – Western Mail Welsh Woman of the Year Awards
* 2004 – Greatest Black Briton, Bassey voted into the top ten – BBC
* 2004 – Artist for Peace Award – UNESCO
* 2005 – Avenue of Stars – plaque unveiled in London
* 2008 – "Goldfinger" – United Artists single (1964) inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

Marillion, 2009. L-R: Ian Mosley, Pete Trewavas, Steve Hogarth, Mark Kelly, and Steve Rothery.

Marillion are a British rock group. Formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979, their recorded studio output comprises fifteen albums and is generally regarded as comprising two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first four albums, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve Hogarth ("h") in early 1989. Marillion has thus far released eleven albums with Hogarth.

The core lineup of Steve Rothery (the sole 'pre-Fish' original member), Pete Trewavas, Mark Kelly and Ian Mosley is unchanged since 1984. The band has enjoyed critical and commercial success with a string of UK Top Ten hits spanning their career, an estimated fifteen million total worldwide album sales and even an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The band's music has changed stylistically throughout their career. The band themselves have stated that each new album tends to represent a reaction to the preceding one, and for this reason their output is difficult to 'pigeonhole'. Their original sound (with Fish on vocals) is best described as guitar and keyboard led progressive suck or "neo-prog", and has sometimes been compared with 1970's era Genesis.

Marillion are widely considered within the industry to have been one of the first mainstream acts to have fully recognised and tapped the potential for commercial musicians to interact with their fans via the Internet circa 1996, and are nowadays often characterised as a rock & roll 'Web Cottage Industry'. The history of the band's use of the internet is described by Michael Lewis in the book Next: The Future Just Happened as an example of how the internet is shifting power away from established elites, such as record producers.

The band is also renowned for having an extremely dedicated following with some fans regularly travelling significant distances to attend single gigs, driven in large part by the close fan base involvement which the band cultivate via their website, podcasts, bi-annual conventions and regular fanclub publications.

Lineup

Current Lineup:

* Steve Hogarth (aka "h") - vocals and lyrics, additional keyboards, guitars, percussion (joined 1989)
* Steve Rothery - electric and acoustic guitars - Founding member (1979)
* Pete Trewavas - bass guitars, backing vocals, additional guitars, samples and effects (joined 1982)
* Mark Kelly - keyboards, samples and effects, backing vocals, programming (joined 1981)
* Ian Mosley - drums, percussion (joined 1984)

Former members:

* Fish (Derek W. Dick) - vocals and lyrics (left in 1988)
* Mick Pointer - drums (Founding member - left 1983)
* Diz Minnett - bass guitars - left 1982
* Brian Jelliman - keyboards - left 1981
* Doug 'Rastus' Irvine - bass guitars, lead vocals - left 1980

History
The Fish era

Marillion was formed in 1979 as Silmarillion, after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion, by Mick Pointer, Steve Rothery, and others. They played their first gig at Berkhamsted Civic Centre on 1 March 1980.

The band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981 to avoid any sort of copyright conflicts at the same time as Fish and bassist Diz Minnitt joined after an audition at Leyland Farm Studios in Buckinghamshire on 2 January 1981. Rothery and keyboardist Brian Jelliman completed the first line-up; the first gig with this line-up was at the Red Lion Pub in Bicester on 14 March 1981. By the end of 1981, Kelly had replaced Jelliman, with Trewavas replacing Minnitt in 1982.

The early works of Marillion contained Fish's poetic and introspective lyrics melded with a complex and subtle musical tapestry to create a sound that reflected the band's influences, notably Queen, early Genesis, Pink Floyd, Van der Graaf Generator, Rush (specifically from the late 1970s), and Yes. Marillion's first recording was a demo tape produced by Les Payne in July 1981 that included early versions of "He Knows You Know", "Garden Party", and "Charting the Single".

The group attracted attention with a three-track session for the Friday Rock Show (early versions of "The Web", "Three Boats Down from The Candy", and "Forgotten Sons") and were subsequently signed by EMI. They released their first single, "Market Square Heroes", in 1982, with the epic song "Grendel" on the B-side of the 12" version. Following the single, the band released their first full-length album in 1983.

The music on their debut album, Script for a Jester's Tear, was born out of the intensive gigging of the previous years. Although it had some obvious progressive rock stylings, it also had a darker edge, suggested by the bedsit squalour on the album's cover. During the tour to promote Script for a Jester's Tear, Mick Pointer left the band. The second album, Fugazi, built upon the success of the first album with a more electronic sound and produced the single 'Assassing', although the band encountered numerous production problems.

Marillion with Fish (1986)

Marillion then released their first live album, Real to Reel, in November 1984, featuring songs from Fugazi and Script for a Jester's Tear, as well as 'Cinderella Search' (B-side to 'Assassing'), recorded in March and July 1984.

Their third and commercially most successful studio album, Misplaced Childhood, was quite possibly their most cohesive work. With the blessing of their record company, the band was free to depart stylistically from their previous albums. They were able to showcase their ability to juxtapose pert pop ballads ("Kayleigh", charting at #2 in the United Kingdom, behind charity fundraiser "You'll Never Walk Alone" by The Crowd) with longer song cycles of lost youth and first loves. The album went to #1 in the United Kingdom.

The fourth studio album, Clutching at Straws, shed some of its predecessor's pop stylings and retreated into a darker exploration of excess, alcoholism, and life on the road, representing the strains of constant touring that would result in the departure of Fish to pursue a solo career. It did continue the group's commercial success, however; lead single "Incommunicado" charted at #6 in the UK charts gaining the band an appearance on 'Top of the Pops'. The loss of the larger-than-life Fish left a hole that would be difficult to fill. After lengthy legal battles, informal contact between Fish and the other four band members apparently did not resume until 1999.

Although reportedly now on good personal terms, both camps had always made it very clear that the oft-speculated-upon reunion would never happen. However, when Fish headlined the 'Hobble on the Cobbles' free concert in Aylesbury's Market Square on 26 August 2007, the attraction of playing their debut single in its spiritual home proved strong enough to overcome any lingering bad feeling between the former band members, and Kelly, Mosley, Rothery, and Trewavas replaced Fish's backing band for an emotional encore of 'Market Square Heroes'.

In a press interview following the event, Fish denied this would lead to a full reunion, saying that: "Hogarth does a great job with the band. We forged different paths over the 19 years."

Trivia from the Fish era album covers

Two early Marillion albums contain Pink Floyd references in their cover artwork:

* The back cover of Script for a Jester's Tear depicts Pink Floyd's album A Saucerful of Secrets lying on the floor, along with other records including Bill Nelson's Do You Dream In Colour single. The other records depicted were Marillion's own singles, "Market Square Heroes" and "He Knows You Know"

* The inside cover of Fugazi shows a bedroom in disorder. There we find another set of influential albums scattered about: Pink Floyd's The Wall lies open, with Peter Hammill's Over and Fool's Mate nearby. Hammill is a major influence on Fish, and on the musical style of Marillion's first two albums. Hammill also supported Marillion on the UK leg of the Script for a Jester's Tear tour.

Cover art from the Fish era was furnished by Mark Wilkinson.

The Steve Hogarth era

After the split, the band found Steve Hogarth, the former keyboardist and sometime vocalist of The Europeans. Hogarth stepped into a difficult situation, as the band had already recorded some demos of the next studio album, which eventually would have become Seasons End.

After Fish left the group (taking his lyrics with him), Hogarth set to work crafting new lyrics to existing songs with lyricist and author John Helmer. The demo sessions of the songs from Seasons End with Fish vocals and lyrics can be found on the bonus disc of the remastered version of Clutching at Straws, while the lyrics found their way into various Fish solo albums such as his first solo album, Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors, some snippets on his second, Internal Exile and even a line or two found its way to his third album, Suits.

Hogarth's second album with the band, Holidays In Eden, was the first he wrote in partnership with the band, and includes the song "Dry Land" which Hogarth had written and recorded in a previous project with the band How We Live. As quoted from Steve Hogarth, "Holidays in Eden was to become Marillion's 'pop'est album ever, and was greeted with delight by many, and dismay by some of the hardcore fans". However, it was followed by Brave, a dark and richly complex concept album that took the band 18 months to release. The album also marked the start of the band's long time relationship with producer Dave Meegan. While critically acclaimed, the album did poorly commercially. An independent film based on the album, which featured the band, was also released.

The next album, Afraid Of Sunlight would be the band's last album with record label EMI. One track of note on the album is Out Of This World, a song about Donald Campbell, who died while trying to set a speed record on water. The song inspired an effort to recover both Campbell's body and the "Bluebird K7," the boat which Campbell crashed in, from the water. The recovery was finally undertaken in 2001, and both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were invited.

What followed was a string of albums and events that saw Marillion struggling to find their place in the music business. This Strange Engine was released in 1997 with little promotion from their new label Castle Records, and the band could not afford to make tour stops in the United States. Luckily, their dedicated US fan base decided to solve the problem by raising some $60,000 themselves online to give to the band to come to the US. The band's loyal fanbase (combined with the Internet) would eventually become vital to the band's existence.

The band's tenth album Radiation saw the band taking a different approach and was received by fans with mixed reactions.

marillion.com was released the following year and showed some progression in the new direction. The band, still unhappy with their record label situation, decided that it would be trying a radical experiment by asking their fans if they would help fund the recording of the next album by pre-ordering it before recording even started. They result was over 12,000 pre-orders which raised enough money to record and release Anoraknophobia in 2001. The band was able to strike a deal with EMI to also help distribute the album. This allowed Marillion to retain all the rights to their music while enjoying commercial distribution.

The success of Anoraknophobia allowed the band to start recording their next album, but they decided to leverage their fanbase once again to help raise money towards marketing and promotion of a new album. The band put up the album for pre-order in mid-production. This time fans responded by pre-ordering 18,000 copies.

Marillion in 2007, left to right: Steve Rothery, Steve Hogarth, Pete Trewavas (front row), Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley (back row)

Marbles was released in 2004 with a 2-CD version that is only available at Marillion's website - kind of a 'thank-you' gesture to the 18,000+ fans who pre-ordered it, and as even a further thanks to the fans, their names were credited in the sleeve notes (this 'thank you' to the fans also occurred with the previous album, Anoraknophobia).

The band released the singles "You're Gone" and "Don't Hurt Yourself", both of which reached the UK Chart in the Top 10 and Top 20 respectively. Following this, they released a download-only single, "The Damage (live)", recorded at the band's sell-out gig at the London Astoria. It was the highest new entry in the new UK download chart at number 2. All of this has succeeded in putting the band back in the public consciousness, making the campaign a success. Marillion continued to tour throughout 2005 playing several summer festivals and embarking on acoustic tours of both Europe and the United States, followed up by the "Not Quite Christmas Tour" of Europe throughout the end of 2005.

A new DVD, Colours and Sound, was released in Feb 2006, documenting the creation, promotion, release, and subsequent European tour in support of the album Marbles.

April 2007 saw Marillion release their fourteenth studio album Somewhere Else, their first album in 10 years to make the UK Top #30. The success of the album was further underscored by that of the download-only single See it Like a Baby, making UK #45 (March 2007) and the traditional CD release of Thankyou Whoever You Are / Most Toys, which made UK#15 and #6 in Holland during June 2007.

Happiness Is the Road, released in October 2008, again featured a pre-order "deluxe edition" with a list of the fans who bought in advance, and a more straightforward regular release. It is another double album, with the first disc (based around a concept) slated for a wider general release in 2009, and the second (consisting of the other songs that aren't part of the theme) only available from their website. Before the album's release, on 9th September 2008, Marillion achieved a world first by pre-releasing their own album via P2P networks themselves. Upon attempting to play the downloaded files, users were shown a video from the band explaining why they had taken this route. Downloaders were then able to opt to purchase the album at a user-defined price or select to receive DRM-free files for free, in exchange for an email address. The band explained that although they did not support piracy, they realised their music would inevitably be shared in this manner anyway, and wanted to attempt to engage with p2p users and make the best of a bad situation.

The band's most recent release (2 October 2009) is an acoustic album featuring new studio arrangements of previously released tracks entitled Less Is More.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia